The mother of a child who was sexually abused by a teacher assistant at Whiteaker Middle School has filed a lawsuit seeking $3.6 million in damages from the Salem-Keizer School District.

Jose Juan Moreno, who was convicted on four counts of sex abuse involving three children — two of which had disabilities — in June 2013, was also named a defendant in the complaint.

Moreno, 46, was an instructional assistant in the Developmental Learning Center. He was arrested by Keizer Police after he admitted in October 2012 to taking two boys into a bathroom near his classroom at Whiteaker and touched their genitals. According to a Keizer police affidavit, one boy is autistic and nonverbal and the other is developmentally disabled.

A Marion County grand jury indicted Moreno and an indictment document filed in November 2012 indicated that the crimes took place between January 2010 and October 2012.

Moreno was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison in November 2013. According to the Department of Corrections, Moreno is now in the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, and his earliest release date is April 9, 2025.

According to the lawsuit filed in Marion County by Lake Oswego law firm Gilroy & Napoli, the plaintiff is a child diagnosed with autism and has global developmental delay and was enrolled as an elementary school student in the Salem-Keizer School District.

According to online court records the complaint was filed June 12.

A school district spokeswoman said Friday via email that district officials were was aware of the lawsuit but have been advised by legal counsel not to comment. "However," the spokeswoman, Karma Krause, said, "we are deeply troubled by the criminal conduct of our former employee and continue to offer sympathy and support to the family."

Moreno was empowered by the district to perform educational and tutorial services, provide physical supervision and assistance to the children when going to the bathroom and developing relationships with students and their parents.

The complaint outlined a level of authority and trust gained by Moreno, which put him in a position to commit the crimes.

"For the purpose of furthering his duties as an instructional assistant and staff member, Moreno also sought and gained the respect, admiration and obedience of Plaintiff. As a result, Plaintiff was conditioned to trust Moreno, to comply with Moreno's direction, and to respect Moreno as a person of authority," the complaint says.

The lawsuit also alleges that Moreno used his authority to take advantage of the plaintiff's mental and developmental vulnerabilities to molest the plaintiff. As a result the plaintiff has suffered severe emotional distress.

The plaintiff accuses the district of negligence in failing to supervise Moreno and allowing him to be alone with special need students in the bathroom and other locations in the school. It also failed to supervise, train and warn its teachers and other district employees to prevent the abuse, the lawsuit says.

Gilroy & Napoli attorney Ashley Bannon said it was difficult for the plaintiff's parents to make the decision to enter litigation.

"This happened to multiple victims. It's one of those things, I think at the end of the day, there was no reason that this should have happened," Bannon said. "It happened over an extended period time."

Bannon said that because the plaintiff is nonverbal, talk therapy is not an option for his recovery.

"The ideal outcome would be to provide the plaintiff's family with some financial stability to obtain services to help the child deal with the trauma that he suffered," she said.

She added that the other intent was to ensure that the school district implement more effective screening of their employees.